Bearcats Step Up again, as Willamette Moves into 12th at NCAA Championships
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. -- The Willamette University men's golf team advanced two positions into 12th place during the third round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Thursday, May 16 at the Keene Trace Golf Club. Willamette, which was 17th after the first round and 14th after 36 holes, carded a 306 in the third round to finish 54 holes at 920 (308-306-306). Austin Davis (Fr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) led the Bearcats in the third round by shooting a 1-over-par 73.
All 18 teams that made the cut from the 42 teams in the opening two rounds, competed on the Champion Trace course on Thursday. The NCAA Championships will conclude with the fourth round, also at Champion Trace, on Friday, May 17.
Willamette's golfers will be matched up with golfers from Hope College (Mich.) and Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) in the fourth round. Tee times for the Bearcats will be between 7:30 a.m. and 8:10 a.m. (EDT), all on the 10th hole. The tee times will be three hours earlier on the West Coast (PDT).
In the individual standings through three rounds, Sam Hinton (Sr., Seaside, OR/Seaside HS) of Willamette was tied for 26th at 225 and Davis was tied for 30th at 226. Hinton has carded rounds of 77, 71 and 77. Davis has shot 78, 75, and 73.
The Bearcats have been led by a different golfer in each round. Andrew Kibbee (Fr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS) led the way in the first round with a 76. Hinton paced the team in the second round at 71 and Davis ranked first for the team in the third round with his 73 on Thursday.
Also competing in the third round for Willamette were Kibbee, Trent Jones (Sr., Kenmore, WA/Shorecrest HS) and Kenneth Sheldon (Sr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS). Kibbee and Jones each shot a 78, while Sheldon carded a 79. Kibbee and Jones are both at 235 overall. Sheldon's overall score is 237.
Highlights of the round for the Bearcats included an eagle (2-under) by Hinton on the par-5, 552-yard 14th hole, plus a team-high five birdies by Davis. Willamette started on the 10th hole and finished on the front nine. Hinton shot 33 on the back nine and Davis carded a 35 on the front nine.
Illinois Wesleyan University, which topped the team standings after each of the first two rounds, was tied with Huntingdon College (Ala.) for first place at the end of the third round. Huntingdon moved up three spots by shooting 290 on Thursday, while Illinois Wesleyan shot 302. The teams are tied at 880 through 54 holes, with Illinois Wesleyan shooting 287-291-302 and Huntingdon shooting 299-291-290.
Guilford College (N.C). was third at 882 (296-286-300) and Wittenberg University (Ohio) was fourth at 895 (295-292-308). Methodist College (N.C.) followed in fifth at 899 (300-298-301). Concordia University (Texas) was sixth at 900 (288-311-301), Oglethorpe University (Ga.) was seventh at 901 (295-303-303), and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif) was eighth at 904 (299-302-303).
The individual leader after three rounds was Sam Goldenring of Williams College (Mass.) with a comibned score of 3-under-par 213 (69-74-70). Drew Mathers of Huntingdon was second at 1-under-par 215 (70-73-72), and Josh Gibson of Hope College was third at even-par 216 (72-71-73). Addison Manring from Guilford and Jacon Arnett of Oglethorpe were tied for fourth place at 217. Manring has shot 73-72-72, with Arnett carding 73-70-74.
Ben Johnson of Illinois Wesleyan and Josh Hill of Guilford shared sixth place at 218. Johnson has registered scores of 72, 73, and 73, while Hill has shot 73, 70, and 75.
Big Moment of the Day for Willamette
The Bearcats began the third round on the back nine, where
Sam Hinton excelled, shooting a 3-under-par 33 that included
an eagle (3 on the par-5, 552-yard 14th hole), a birdie (2 on
the par-3 11th hole) and seven pars. He was at or below par
on every hole during the back nine.